Be still, be silent, be confident

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” (Romans 12: 12)

Poet and author Marion Woodman has written a statement filled with truth: “A flower won’t open if I yell at it and say ‘Bloom!’”

Many of us spend much of our time yelling at life to become what we would like it to be. We try really hard to force circumstances into being a certain way and we often rail aloud if things don’t go the way we think they should. Just like our flower, we can yell at life all we want, but the truth is it is going to bud and bloom in its own time.

We do this with God as well. Maybe if we just prayed “louder” God would finally hear us. Maybe if we shouted and stomped our foot for emphasis God would really get the message. The answer is not to get louder, but to become quieter. We are never going to understand God’s answer over our shouting, but we will find it in the quiet, in the silence. In our stillness we will begin to understand and to see how the answer we seek is developing, growing and reaching out to us. Like the flower, we will see that our answer begins in a small way, grows with us through some time, and begins to bloom for us as our recognition and vision becomes clear as to what this answer means to us in a very deep and meaningful way. The more we begin to find comfort and peace in the waiting the more our answer will come into focus before us. Be still, be silent, be confident. God loves you and will show you all you need to know just when you need to know it.

Affirmation: “My answer began before my prayer was ever uttered. God is in my prayer, in my answer and also in my waiting.”